New Realizations
by heartlessleostar
Summary: What happens to 2/3rds of the Golden Trio when they attempt to destroy another one of Voldemort's horcruxes , and at the same time any doubts of their feelings towards one another. Read and Review!
1. Chapter 1

**So this is my first fanfic that I've ever posted online. I wrote this one a couple of years ago and I know the topic has been glossed over many many times, but here is my take on what happened to the Ginger and the Nerd while the Boy Who Lived was away with the One with the Gurdy Roots. (I love these characters too much okay I am allowed to bully them) Please read and review. I'd love to hear your inputs! **

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"See you in a bit", said Harry, with a meaningful look at Ron and me, and hurried towards Ravenclaw Tower with Luna up a stone stairwell. I turned to Ron and whispered fearfully, "We were supposed to stick together! What if he…what if…".

Ron grabbed my wrists firmly "Shh.. Hermione, shh he'll be just fine. He's Harry bloody Potter after all! He always gets out of stuff, you know that." Ron smiled down at me with concerned eyes. I smiled grudgingly back and murmured, "That is true…"

Ron was just about to speak when Neville approached us. He had a reproachful look on his face, and I was silently thankful for the noise of the conversations and little reunions around us. "You lot are on some kind of mission, aren't you? You're not back for good?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Then let us help you!", Neville bit out fiercely. There was no mistaking the passion and fire in his eyes.

Not knowing how to respond, I glanced up at Ron, ready to exchange helpless looks. But Ron didn't look away from Neville. His eyes were glassy and his mouth was slightly open. After a few moments, Ron turned his head toward me for a second. I briefly saw a glint in his blue eyes and shuddered lightly.

"Neville, we will need a broomstick"

"Wait what?" I asked, completely puzzled. Neville blinked once and turned around. The table which had been bare seconds ago now bore a single broomstick. Ron picked it up and smiled at Neville. "Thanks , mate. I can see now that you really _do_ get this room."

Neville smiled too and said, "Yeah. You two be careful now. I would have stopped you from leaving, but I don't want Hermione to forcibly petrify me again."

I raised my eyebrows suggestively while Ron chuckled. "Oh I can do a lot worse than petrify if I have to get my way." Neville laughed good naturedly and lead us to same staircase through which Harry and Luna had gone through. "It leads you to a different place in the school each time, so be careful".

We were just about to climb up when Fred, George and Ginny came up to us.

"Oi! Where do you lovebirds think you're going?!"  
"Are you ditching us all?"  
"You can't leave Harry behind!"

"We aren't leaving Hogwarts, calm down! Hermione and I can finish a part of Dumbledore's mission. Right here in Hogwarts. We're going to be fine. Understand?"

Fred and George were visibly stumped. George croaked, "Right. Off you go, lil bro"  
"Please stay safe", Ginny whispered.

"We're trying to find a bathroom. We will see you later, alright?" and with that Ron ushered me toward the stairs, leaving the other three looking shocked.

"Ron, what's going-"  
"Not now, Hermione."

The stairs were long and winding. At last we reached a door. I stopped to catch my breath and bent over, clutching my stomach.

Ron's voice wafted above me, "We're going to open the Chamber of Secrets"

For a wild second I thought Ron was under the influence of Felix Felicis. My head snapped up and I stared at the oddly greedy and delighted expression on his face.

"Ron, are you okay?"

He made a tutting noise but the smile was still plastered on his face. "C'mon Hermione! Think about it! We still haven't destroyed Hufflepuff's cup!"

"I...I...oh! Ron, you're a genius!"

Ron merely shrugged but he looked pleased with himself. "Let's go!" He grabbed my hand and pushed open the door, into the empty corridor.

I looked down at our linked hands and when Ron wasn't looking, I bit my lower lip hard to keep from grinning madly.

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**Ok I know it's a bit short, sorry. But more to come!**


	2. Chapter 2

The corridor in front of us was empty, thankfully. I stood slightly behind Ron and gripped his hand tighter, my eyes darting constantly in fear of being caught or recognized by the Carrows, Snape or a loitering Slytherin.

Neither us moved. The only sound to be heard was of our shallow breathing and Peeves cackling away somewhere in the distance.

"Damn, if only we had the map, or the Cloak!", I moaned softly. Both of these possessions were with Harry and Luna.

"It's OK. Get your wand out, we need to be alert. Which floor do you reckon we're on?"

"I don't know... Ron what do we do now?" I was begin to panic. _Maybe this wasn't such a good idea..._

"Hermione, calm down!" Ron urged quietly but firmly. It was odd how Ron had suddenly stepped up and taken charge, as if he knew that he had to be strong for me. He had been acting quite different ever since Malfoy Manor, or was it that he had always been like this, and I never noticed before? I turned red as I thought about our time at Shell Cottage... Ron had been by my side for almost every minute we spent there. We had always been close friends, but that awkwardness had lurked between us for years. Despite me being weak and tired and almost unable to move from one room to another, I felt as though Ron and I had never been closer. He would pull my chair open at dinner, ask me if I needed anything every fifteen minutes, and we were somehow always touching as we walked, either our hands linked or his arm draped lightly across my shoulder. But surely, that must have been because I was still raw and fragile from the ordeal, yes, that was it. He was just taking care of me, it was perfectly normal. Maybe things were just the same as before?

"I think we should keep moving, otherwise we'll never get to the girls' bathroom" Ron's voice broke me out of my thoughts. I nodded once and tried not to be aware of our still joined hands.

We crept slowly along the wall of the corridor, constantly waiting for someone to catch us, but no one was in sight.

"Down here!" Ron pulled me down a flight of stairs and onto another corridor. We kept this up, hiding behind statues and darting across stairs and corridors.

"Ron! This is the one!", I exclaimed as we reached the bathroom. The door was ajar. Ron kicked it open and we stepped inside. The floor was wet and slippery, but it looked the same as ever. Old memories of icky tasting potion and a lot of cat's fur began playing through my mind.

"Thank Merlin that Myrtle isn't around this time", Ron said darkly after checking everywhere. He then looked around the sinks. After a few seconds, he raised the broomstick and pointed it toward a broken sink. On approaching closer, I could see a serpent that had been engraved on the tap. "So this is the one..." I breathed out. He nodded and said, "Now's the tough part, though. We can only get in if I ask it to open in Parseltongue..." He trailed off, ears suddenly getting red. I folded my hands over my chest in worry.

"B-but I can have a go at it! How hard can it be?! I mean, I heard Harry when he had to open Slytherin's locket. Maybe I can mimic him!" Ron added hastily in a voice that sounded like he was trying to convince himself. I winced, 'Well, you can try, but still..."

"Hermione I've got to! We're the only ones who can end this!" Ron said feverishly. I gulped and nodded again, jerking my head toward the sink.

"Here goes nothing.."

For the next ten minutes, Ron struggled in vain. It took all of my strength and will power to keep a straight face at his attempts and frustrations. Ron was beginning to lose patience, and his voice was turning from a hiss to a growl, when suddenly the sink started to lower itself and revealed a dark passage.

"Oh Ron, that was brilliant! You got it right!" I squealed and clutched his forearm. He still looked slightly annoyed but smiled widely down at me. "That or the sink was beginning to take pity on me." I simply rolled my eyes at him.

"You jump first, I'll be right behind you", Ron told me. I glanced nervously down the pipe. I sat down, let my legs dangle into the abyss, before letting go and sliding downwards. The pipe was dark, slimy and winding. From somewhere above me, I could hear Ron thudding against the pipe, his broomstick loudly clanging against the metal. I finally landed on the damp floor. I got up and looked around, but it was far to dark to make out any passageway.

Behind me, a broomstick fell to the floor, followed by Ron. He reached for my outstretched hand and got to his feet, brushing off his knees. Picking up the broomstick, he raised his want and whispered,_"lumos" _I did the same with my own.

"Whoa, I remember this place, still got the same creepiness to it", Ron muttered. The walls were dark and covered with slime. Ron tugged on my sleeve and asked, "Are you okay?" I gulped and blushed at look of worry and tenderness on his face. It reminded me of that time when he was talking about the Cattermoles and I figured I must have been looking at him the same way at that time. It reminded me of when I first woke up in Shell Cottage, feeling nothing but weak and empty, hearing nothing but waves sloshing against rocks, and seeing nothing but too wide blue eyes looking at me with worry, the freckles dotted across his nose and cheeks, his face closer than it had ever been in that moment...

"I'm fine, Ron, let's keep going", my voice wavered, but if Ron noticed, he chose not to comment. _Damn, I have to stop getting carried away like this._

He lead me down the passage way and started talking fast. "Okay, so I haven't _actually_ been inside the chamber. There's these rocks which sort of caved in, so Lockhart and I couldn't go beyond...there it is!" We reached a large rock boulder. "Ginny and Harry had managed to climb out of that, but of course they were much smaller at the time", he pointed at the gap in the rock.

"_Diffindo!_", I cried, and the boulder came tumbling down.

"Good thinking!", Ron said and together we climbed over the rocks to cross over. The path seemed really long and we had to walk quite a distance. I was about to complain and demand we stop for a few minutes when we reached a closed doorway, on which two serpents were engraved. The looked eerily real, and their eyes seemed to be alive.

"Aw ruddy hell, looks like its back to the Parseltongue", Ron muttered angrily and promptly began to hiss again. This time, however, he got it right within minutes.

"Ahhh!' I yelped in fright and hugged Ron as the serpents moved away from each other. The doorway swung open wide, revealing the Chamber.

"Er...'Mione?" Ron asked tentatively. I realized that I was stilling holding him tightly. "Right sorry.." I mumbled and quickly let go. Ron stepped forward and climbed into the doorway. Once I had climbed in, the doorway swung shut loudly. I turned to face Ron, "Well, this is now or never, I guess."

Ron smiled down at me and something unknown glittered in his eyes. "Now or never", he whispered back and together we walked inside.


	3. Chapter 3

The Chamber was high-domed, with dozens and dozens of serpentine pillars covering the floor and extending up to the ceiling. My attention was immediately jerked to the sight up ahead of us. The dead coils of the Basilisk lay at the far end of the Chamber. Its skin had rotted and shrivelled up in several places, and a couple of fangs had fallen from its mouth and lay discarded near the skeleton.

We gingerly approached the dead Basilisk. Ron bent to pick up a fang and said in an awed voice, "I can't believe Harry managed to take this thing down when he was just a scrawny little kid! He just stabbed it with Gryffindor's sword! Which we _could_ have used if it weren't for that two-faced, double-crossing, little piece of..."

"Ron! Now's not the time" I said, half-amused, stopping him from ranting off about Griphook. Ron shook his head once and mumbled to himself. He then looked over at me and then at my beaded bag, then up at me again. I felt a flush creep up my neck at this.

"W-w-what are..."

"The cup, Hermione? We came here to destroy it?" Ron asked a tad bit impatiently. I fumbled a bit and rushed to pull out the glittering cup of Hufflepuff from my bag. "Hermione, are you sure you're alright? You don't seem..."

"I'm fine", I snapped hastily. _It's just Ron, Your best friend of 7 years. Just Ronald Billius Weasley. Get a grip on yourself!_

I breathed out heavily and handed the cup to him with a determined look on my face. Ron just looked at it silently and made no attempt to take it from me.

"I think you should be the one to destroy it", Ron said silently. I looked up in surprise, something I seemed to being a lot that evening.

"Ron, I don't think I can, I'm not so sure..."

"Of course you can! You're a true Gryffindor! The cup isn't like the locket, it doesn't bother or tamper with the mind of the one who possesses it. I'm sure it'll be much easier to get rid of this one, and you haven't had a chance to do so yet. It won't be as tough as destroying the locket, I swear."

"Tough?", I asked, perplexed. "You...you and Harry just said it screamed when you stabbed it."

Ron didn't meet my eyes. He suddenly became very interested in the fang and fiddled with it between his hands.

"Oh Ron, what happened? Tell me, please!" I couldn't stand to see Ron looking that helpless.

There was a pregnant pause. Ron looked up, and his face looked paler than usual. "The evil in the locket...it...it got to me. Right before I was about to stab it. Got to my mind and my heart. That piece of Riddle which was inside it affected me far worse than either Harry or you. I swear on Merlin, this is no excuse, you yourself saw how restless and awful I became whenever it was my turn to wear it." He took a deep breath, "Hermione, I'm sorry. I'm weak, I know and I hate myself for it and..."

"Ron, no, stop, _stop," _I urged him. "You've always under estimated yourself and doubted yourself and I can't say I blame you with all your brothers and your too-famous best friend. But you have to let that go. You are surrounded by people who love you, you're just as important as the rest of us. we value you, okay? And sometimes, it's okay to need to be reminded of how much we mean to people." Ron just stared at me. "You mean so much to me, Ron"

"Really?" Ron's voice came out like a croak.

"Yes, _yes_, you big, stupid oaf" I laughed once. "I'll do it. I'll stab it", I said firmly. Ron looked at me skeptically before taking the cup from me and placing the fang in my hand. I took a deep breath and silently watched Ron walking a few feet away. He placed the cup down on the floor, away from the skeleton. I crouched down in front of it, raising the fang up behind me. I felt a light squeeze on my shoulder and a voice said "I'm right here, Hermione."

I smiled.

The fang came tearing down and pierced the cup in the middle. There was a shrill scream and I had a strong urge to cover my ears, but I kept my hold on the fang. I vaguely noticed a dark coloured liquid oozing out of the cup. The screaming stopped as abruptly as it started and I finally let go of the fang, letting it fall next to the cup. I got up, unsteady on my feet and feeling strangely exhausted. Ron put his arms around me and hoisted me up, relieved laughter vibrating off his chest. I slumped and sighed softly, just standing there not holding my own weight. Ron pulled away and dusted he hair off of my face. Before I could look at him, he had moved to pick up the mangled cup. He stuffed it in his jacket and started collecting the fallen fangs. "In case Harry finds the diadem, we are gonna need something to destroy it with", he explained huskily. I rushed forward and started collecting them as well. When our hands were brimming, we straightened up and faced each other.

"Hermione, I-"

"Ron, please. Don't thank me. The important thing is that it's been done" I could barely keep myself from grinning. Ron dipped his head down shyly, red ears and all, before telling me, "Let's get out of here." He adjusted the fangs in his arms and pulled out the broomstick. "C'mon" he said and pulled me behind him on it. We kicked off from the ground and zoomed out of the now-open doorway, through the dark passage and up and winding pipe. Ron landed rather ungracefully on the bathroom floor, several fangs flying everywhere. I laughed and gripped Ron tightly while getting off the broomstick.

"This is why I don't do broomsticks" I chortled and bent to collect the scattered fangs. Ron just rolled his eyes and stuffed the the broomstick below his armpit, readjusting the fangs in his arms. There was a sudden rumble overhead and noises could be heard. Our eyes met instantly and we scrambled out of the bathroom.

"We should get back to the Room of Requirement, Harry might already be there"

Ron agreed and we rushed for the stairs. People seemed to be running around and no one paid us any attention, so we ran with little care.

"Fancy you, Ronald Weasley, coming up with the Chamber of Secrets," I said teasingly as we kept moving. Despite the panic of the students around us, I was still in a good mood.

Ron faced me for a second with a smirk before looking back ahead. "Always the tone of surprise" he said softly. He caught my eye and the both of us burst out laughing. I swatted his arm and pushed him forward, running along behind him and still giggling.

_I love you, you stupid ginger-haired prat. _

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**THE END! Hope you enjoyed it, folks! :D**


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